1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to electrical plug removal and installation devices and in particular to an electric plug remover and installer having a long adjustable lever arm with adjustable pivot arms for bearing against a wall or piece of furniture hiding an electric wall outlet for a mechanical advantage enabling easy removal and installation of electric plugs held in a bottom clamp operated by a top hand grip.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Electrical outlets are frequently crowded environments in which it can be dangerous or difficult to handle components with the fingers. It is desirable to have tools which are small or portable, easily operable and manipulated by one hand, and which can grasp electrical plugs firmly, capturing them so that they can be manipulated in any orientation for installing or removing the plugs from electrical outlets.
Prior art U.S. Pat. No. 5,516,305, issued May 14, 1996 to Haluska, provides an electrical plug removal device for use with electrical plugs of the type that have an electrical cord and electrically conductive spaced apart blades or prongs, with the electrically conductive spaced apart blades to be plugged into an electrical outlet or receptacle. The electrical plug removal device is constructed from thin non-conductive semi-flexible material designed to be used with a variety of electrical plugs having different types of cord caps and different shapes, configurations and numbers of electrically conductive spaced apart blades or prongs. Electrical plug blade receiving means formed in a central portion of an elongated main body accept the electrically conductive blades of the electrical plug. Other portions of the elongated main body are folded over the electrical plug and are removably joined thereby encompassing the electrical plug and the electrical cord. The end of the electrical plug removal device also has continuously formed thereon a gripping means. A users can easily and safely grasp the gripping means of the electrical plug removal device to effect the safe removal of an electrical plug from electrical outlets or receptacles without causing damage to the electrical cord or to the electrical plug.
Prior art U.S. Pat. No. 4,253,697, issued Mar. 3, 1981 to Acosta, shows a retrieving instrument featuring a snap-lock handle connected to one end of a flexible cable, the other end of which has a releasible gripping head. The gripping head may be mechanically or electromagnetically operated, there is an actuation control mechanism that locks the jaw in either the gripping mode or the release mode until the control is changed. A viewing system utilizing newly developed fiber optic techniques is preferably incorporated into the structure.
Prior art U.S. Pat. No. 5,687,889, issued Nov. 18, 1997 to Liden, claims a manually operable combination device to help a user who cannot bend at the back, waist, or knees with applying socks, shoes, pants, tightening and loosening shoe laces, removing socks and picking things up off the ground. The device includes components to provide a reacher function with a pivoting closeable jaw operated by a trigger mechanism, a flexible or rigid plastic shovel, and a longitudinally sliding hook operated by a lever. The plastic shovel is used to apply socks and as a shoehorn. The reacher is used to apply shoes and remove socks and to pick articles up from floor. A sliding hook is used in conjunction with cord clamps on shoelaces to tighten laces. The hook is also used for application of pants.
Prior art U.S. Pat. No. 5,577,785, issued Nov. 26, 1996 to Traber, describes a single-hand actuated pick-up tool. The tool includes an elongated hollow stalk terminating at spaced-apart distal and proximal ends. The tool also includes first and second short, flexible, spring pick-up fingers extending divergently outward from the distal end of the stalk and includes flexible elements terminating the outer ends of the fingers for grasping an object when brought toward one another. The tool also comprises a center strap extending from the first pick-up finger interiorly along the stalk and then back interiorly to the second pick-up finger. The tool has a handle formed in cooperation with the stalk that includes a handle member pivotally mounted to the stalk and further including a device for drawing the center strap rearward the fingers when the handle member is pivoted toward the stalk. The tool also comprises a first hollow stalk plug for slidable insertion in the distal end of the stalk for retaining the fingers by friction in mounted position in the stalk.
Prior art U.S. Pat. No. 4,962,957, issued Oct. 16, 1990 to Traber, discloses a single hand-actuated pick-up tool of the type that comprises an elongated shaft terminating at spaced-apart upper and lower ends. The device also comprises a pair of spaced-apart, pick-up fingers that extend from the lower end of the shaft that include a pair of springs for biasing them apart. The tool also includes a pair of ribbons that include a handle with a finger-actuable trigger at the upper end, biased apart from the handle, for drawing the fingers together as the trigger is squeezed against the handle. The improvement provides for the fingers to be able to close together and form locked configurations less than the fully-opened configuration including an arm extending from the trigger for reciprocal motion as a function of movement of the trigger, at least one notch formed in the arm adapted for engagement with a stop in the handle. The tool also includes a spring urging the arm into sliding contact with the stop as the trigger is moved. The tool also comprises and a lever pivotally mounted at the upper shaft end for movement between a first unlocked position that permits the spring to retain the arm in contact with the stop and a second, unlock position where the arms moved out of contact with the stop to permit full range of motion of the fingers from full open to full closed.
Prior art U.S. Pat. No. 4,758,035, issued Jul. 19, 1988 to Shimasaki, a gripping and reaching device for persons with wrist or grip disabilities comprising a one-piece forearm brace which pivotally mounts an axially aligned extension arm having a pair of opposed object engaging gripping elements at its end. The gripper elements are brought into initial contact with the object located therebetween by hand operation of a trigger mounted to the brace. Upon lifting of the object, the gripping elements are further tightened about the object by a cable linkage, which is tensioned in response to pivotal movement of the extension arm with a force corresponding to the weight of the object.
Prior art U.S. Pat. No. 3,937,512, issued Feb. 10, 1976 to Baughman, puts forth a lightweight grab stick, which incorporates a hand-grip with trigger pull action. The support column and swing leg are of channel form and the trigger rod is connected to a control link member. The tips of the support column and swing leg are flattened to provide gripper jaws. The control link member is pivoted at triangularly spaced points respectively to the support column, the trigger rod and a pull rod that is connected to the swing leg. The control link and swing leg are on opposite sides of the support column and the pull rod protects through the support column. A guide prevents lateral motion of the swing leg.
Prior art U.S. Pat. No. 6,520,556, issued Feb. 18, 2003 to Hsu, concerns a gripping device that includes a hand-grip rotatably secured to a handle with a shaft. The device also comprises a base secured to the handle, a pair of gripping fingers rotatably secured to the base and coupled to the hand-grip which may actuate the gripping fingers to grasp an object. A device may lock the hand-grip to the handle with a pivotal pawl. A button may selectively lock the pawl to the hand-grip. A tube and a pipe are adjustably secured between the handle and the gripping fingers. A cable is secured to the hand-grip, and a beam is selectively secured to the cable with teeth engagement.
Prior art U.S. Pat. No. 6,513,844, issued Feb. 4, 2003 to Hsu, illustrates a gripping device that includes a hand-grip rotatably secured to a handle with a shaft. The device also comprises a base secured to the handle, a pair of gripping fingers rotatably secured to the base and coupled to the hand-grip which may actuate the gripping fingers to grasp an object. A device may lock the hand-grip to the handle with a pivotal pawl. A button may selectively lock the pawl to the hand-grip. A tube and a pipe are adjustably secured between the handle and the gripping fingers. A cable is secured to the hand-grip, and a beam is selectively secured to the cable with teeth engagement.
Prior art U.S. Pat. No. 4,231,603, issued Nov. 4, 1980 to Van Zelm, is for an improved gripping device for use by handicapped persons. The gripping device consists of double acting jaws that grip the item to be picked up or lifted. The gripping device also comprises a forward arm section, a rearward arm section, and a control mechanism to control the gripping action of the double acting jaws and the hinge action between the forward arm section and the rearward arm section. The device can be operated with one hand. It can also be operated from a wheel chair.
Prior art U.S. Pat. No. 4,374,600, issued Feb. 22, 1983 to Van Zelm, provides an improved lock for a gripping device, for use by handicapped persons, with a lock-type member to improve safety. The gripping device consists of double acting jaws that grip the item to be picked up or lifted. The gripping device also comprises a forward arm section, a rearward arm section, and a control mechanism to control the gripping action of the double acting jaws and the hinge action between the forward arm section and the rearward arm section. A lock-type safety member for the hinge action improves the safety factor when using the device. The device with the lock-type safety member can be operated with one hand and can be operated from a wheel chair.
Prior art U.S. Pat. No. 2,869,914, issued Jan. 20, 1959 to Yoakley, Jr., shows an extension arm for grasping article that would otherwise be out of reach. The extension arm has spring biased construction so that its tongs are normally spring biased to an open position. The tongs are closed by pulled on an actuating lever at the opposing end of the extension arm.
What is needed is a remote device that can grasp electrical plugs firmly, capturing them so that they can be manipulated in any orientation for installing or removing the plugs from electrical outlets.
An object of the present invention is to provide a remote device that can grasp electrical plugs firmly, capturing them so that they can be manipulated in any orientation for installing or removing the plugs from electrical outlets.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an electrical plug inserter and remover that is simple, easily operable by one hand, and is able to capture and retain the electrical plug being handled until the operator chooses to disconnect the tool from the plug.
One more object of the present invention is to provide an electrical plug inserter and remover with a long lever arm, which has pivot arms for bearing against a wall or piece of furniture hiding an electric wall outlet for a mechanical advantage enabling easy removal and installation of electric plugs.
An additional object of the present invention is to provide an electrical plug inserter and remover with a lever arm and pivot arms that are formed of at least two telescoping components and are adjustable in length.
Yet one more object of the present invention is to provide add-on elongated clamp arms with enlarged grips to be attached to the plug clamp to enable gripping larger plugs such as those housing transformers.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a periscope that may be attached along the length of the elongated lever arm, so that a user may look into the top opening of the periscope and see a wall outlet adjacent to the bottom opening of the periscope.
In brief, a remote electric plug installer and remover device for installing and removing an electric plug in an electric wall outlet located on a portion of a wall behind an obstruction. The device comprises a rigid elongated lever arm that has a bottom clamp attached to the bottom end of the lever arm. The lever arm is formed of two telescoping components and is adjustable in length. The bottom clamp comprises a pair of jaws that are pivotally attached together. The bottom clamp grips and releases an electric plug to install and remove the electric plug from the electric wall outlet. The device further comprises a top hand grip attached to the top end of the lever arm. The hand grip has a pair of pivotally connected handles and a cable for communicating with the bottom clamp, thereby opening and closing the bottom clamp.
The device also comprises a pair of pivot arms that are movably attached to the lever arm and are positioned between the top end and the bottom end of the lever arm. The pair of pivot arms extend outwardly from the lever arm on opposing sides of the lever arm. The pivot arms are of two different lengths and each comprise two telescoping components, making them adjustable in length. One of the pair of pivot arms bears against the wall to enable the removal of the electric plug from the wall outlet by moving the top end of the lever arm toward the wall, thereby pivoting the bottom end of the lever arm away from the wall with the electric plug in the bottom clamp and removing the electric plug from the wall outlet. The other of the pair of pivot arms bears against the obstruction to enable the installation of the electric plug in the wall outlet by moving the top end of the lever arm away from the wall, thereby pivoting the bottom end of the lever arm toward the wall with the electric plug in the bottom clamp, thereby installing the electric plug in the wall outlet.
The device may also comprise a periscope that is attachable to the elongated lever arm along the length of the lever arm. The periscope comprises an elongated hollow tube that has a pair of angled mirrors, which communicate between the top viewing opening and the bottom opening so that a user may look into the top opening and see a wall outlet adjacent to the bottom opening.
Add-on elongated clamp arms with enlarged grips may be attached to the plug lamp to enable gripping larger plugs such as those housing transformers.
An advantage of the present invention is that it allows for remote installation and removal of an electrical plug from a wall outlet without having to move obstructions, such as furniture.
Another advantage of the present invention is that it is adjustable in length.
An additional advantage of the present invention is that allows for remote viewing the electrical plug.
One more advantage of the present invention is it is simple to operate.
Yet another advantage of the present invention is inexpensive to manufacture.
Still another advantage of the present invention is that it is small and portable.
Yet another advantage of the present invention is that it works with a variety of plug sizes.